Syria's Assad tours Christian village on Easter

Associated Press

Published 6:55 pm, Sunday, April 20, 2014

Photo: Sana, Reuters

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) visits Maaloula town, northeast of Damascus April 20, 2014, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. Assad on Sunday visited Maaloula, an ancient Christian town recaptured from rebels last week, state media said, as he seeks to persuade minorities that the government is their best protection against hardline Islamists. Assad's Easter visit to Maaloula - a rare appearance outside central Damascus - also highlighted growing government confidence in recent gains against insurgents around the capital and along the Lebanese border. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS less

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) visits Maaloula town, northeast of Damascus April 20, 2014, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. Assad on Sunday visited Maaloula, an ... more

Photo: Sana, Reuters

Syria's Assad tours Christian village on Easter

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Beirut --

Syria's embattled president marked Easter with a tour Sunday of an ancient Christian village recently recaptured by his forces, an important symbolic prize for his government ahead of coming presidential elections he appears poised to contest.

President Bashar Assad's visit to Maaloula, 40 miles northeast of Damascus, served as a propaganda victory for his government in its quest to be seen as a protector of religious minorities as its civil war grinds on.

Rebels, including fighters from the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, seized Maaloula several times late last year. Government troops swept through the village on Monday, sending rebel fighters fleeing.

Despite damage to holy sites in the village, Assad told Syrian state television: "Maaloula will remain steadfast in the face of barbarism of all those who are targeting the homeland."

Assad promised to defend Christians - who make up about 10 percent of Syria's prewar population of 23 million - and protect churches that he said were part of the country's cultural heritage. Syria's civil war has seen Islamic extremists and radical foreign fighters join the fight and target Christians and their houses of worship.

Many of Syria's patchwork of minority Christian and Muslim faiths support Assad or have remained neutral, fearing for their fate should hard-line rebel groups seize power.

Assad's visit, while highlighting the recent gains his forces have made around the capital and along the Lebanese border, also took on the air of a campaign-style event. On Monday, Syria's parliament will open registration for presidential candidates in its upcoming election, scheduled to be held this summer.

Assad has not publicly said he will run, but is widely expected to win another seven-year term. That's despite the war entering its fourth year, scattering a third of the population and killing more than 150,000 people, according to activists.

Syria's conflict started in March 2011 as largely peaceful protests against Assad's rule. It gradually turned into a civil war after some opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown on dissent.

Also Sunday, four French journalists kidnapped and held for 10 months in Syria returned home. Edouard Elias, Didier Francois, Nicolas Henin and Pierre Torres arrived on a special flight that brought them to Paris from a town near the Turkish border where they had been released.

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